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Post-acceptance Instructions

Post-acceptance Instructions

Instructions for Final Versions

The final version of your paper is due within 6 weeks after the acceptance notification for your paper.*

Final versions must conform to the official TACL final versions formatting rules (revised December 2021), which are described in this pdf file:

Formatting Instructions for TACL Final Versions (dated December 15, 2021).

That document begins with a list of common errors that have caused us to send papers back to authors for correction in the past. Consult the instructions carefully to avoid making the same mistakes.

Style and template LaTeX files can be found on the Submission Instructions page. (Switching from submission to camera-ready mode is described in the "Formatting Instructions for TACL Final Versions" document mentioned above.).

*TACL encourages authors to consider thanking the reviewers and action editors.

MIT Press Information about Author Rights, Permissions, and Responsibilities

Your rights to post preprints and reprints are described in the Author Posting Guidelines.

Please consult The MIT Press, Copyright, and You. Key points are: you retain various rights to reuse your material even though ACL retains copyright; and if you use any material that is copyrighted by another party, you must not only provide proper acknowledgment, but also provide that you have permission to use it. We provide a template permissions request and certification letter and an editable .docx version.

Final Version Submission Instructions and Required Forms

Please send an email to the TACL editors in chief (editors-in-chief AT transacl.org) that has as attachments:

  1. The (single-spaced) pdf of your paper, named "NNNN-FirstAuthorLastName-finalversion.pdf", where NNNN is the submission number and "FirstAuthorLastName" should be the last/family name of the first author. Example: 0000-Lee-finalversion.pdf. Capitalize all major words in the final paper title. Example: “The Life and Times of an Editor-in-Chief".
  2. A zip file containing all the LaTeX and all other source files need to recreate that pdf (including tacl2018v2.sty and acl_natbib.bst if you used either of them, as well as any image files, .bib files, etc). The main .tex file should be called main-NNNN-FirstAuthorLastName.tex, where NNNN and FirstAuthorLastName are as described above.
  3. A double-spaced version of your paper, named "NNNN-FirstAuthorLastName-copyeditversion.pdf", where NNNN and FirstAuthorLastName are as described above. Consult the instructions referenced above for how to easily create this version.
  4. The final decision letter sent by the Action Editor to you, in its entirety (reviews are included as well). You do not need to remove author names from that letter.
  5. A signed copy of the ACL copyright transfer and video release form (revised September 2018).
  6. A signed copy of the publication agreement with MIT press.
  7. Image release form(s) signed by the other copyright holder(s) (only if your paper includes work copyrighted by another party).

Essential steps in preparing the email of your final revision:

  1. Include "TACL final version" and your paper’s submission number in the subject line of your email.
  2. In the body of your email, list:
    1. the name of the action editor who handled the final version
    2. the dates that you submitted original and any revised versions for this specific submission number, in the format "Month Day, Year"
    3. The names of all authors, in bulleted format (see template below), in order, family/last name first, with html codes employed for all accents, (this is particularly important for last/family names with spaces in them) and email addresses for each author, as shown here:
      • First:
      • Middle: (if applicable)
      • Last:
      • Email:
      • Country of Affiliation(s)
    4. Final paper title, capitalizing all major words. Example: “The Life and Times of an Editor-in-Chief”
    5. Final paper abstract. Please make sure you don't have line-breaks between lines in the same paragraph (test: when you copy and paste from your email into another text buffer, which is what we will be doing, does the pasted version have strange spacing or linebreaks?). Also, proofread this carefully; for example, if you just copy the abstract from the pdf, there are often hyphenation errors that you will want to fix.
    6. Address and list responses to changes/mandates set forth in decision letter. A bulleted list is preferred.
    7. Important! If you have not heard from us within 3-5 business days of sending your final version bundle, please let us know by sending an email to: editors-in-chief@transacl.org. There have been rare occasions that the final version bundles don't arrive in our email queue.

What Happens After Submission of Final Version

All references to "days" below refer to business days.

At each of the following steps, if problems are found, authors may be contacted to correct the problems and then re-do the process outlined in the section "Submitting the final version" above.

  1. The metadata, submission/revision dates, author info, addition of acknowledgments, and so on are double-checked. [target: 3-5 days]
  2. The final version files are sent to the Action Editor for approval. It is possible for the AE to require more changes at this point, although these are typically not large-scale revisions. (Example: the AE requires that the title be revised.) [target: 7 days]
  3. Once the paper receives AE technical approval, TACL sends the final-version files to MIT Press. [target: 1 day]

The following workflow and time estimates come from MIT Press. The time estimates are approximate and depend on quick author response; MIT Press estimates a realistic time span is 35 business days.

  1. Files go out for copy-editing; authors may be contacted during this time. [15 days]
  2. Composition of copyedited manuscript [10 days]
  3. Release of proof to author and proofreader [0 days]
  4. Author send corrections which are forwarded to proofreader [3 days]
  5. Proofread proof is returned to MIT Press [5 days]
  6. The press reviews and sends to compositor for correction [0 days]
  7. Revised proof to press and proofreader [5 days]
  8. Proofread proof goes to MIT Press [3 days]
  9. Final corrections from MIT Press to compositor [0 days]
  10. Confirming proof released and revised by MIT Press, who requests final PDF and XML [2 days]
  11. Final PDF and XML posted to staging for review; they are reviewed and published [5 days]